This book is comprised of translated, long-hand notes for lectures Fr. Florensky gave in the '20's to a group of intellectual seekers. The notes are, for the most part, cogent and revelatory of Florensky's thoughts on the central problem of "modern culture": that during the Enlightenment the medieval worldview had been replaced with a positivistic one, and now (early 20th century), that positivistic worldview was cracking as people renewed their longing for a sense of meaning and access to metaphysical truth. He hoped, it seemed, to guide the trendy interest in the occult and spiritualism and metaphysics back toward Orthodox Christianity, which was the modern remnant of the medieval worldview. That goal encompasses the focus of the sixteen-or-so lectures. Florensky believed without reservation that he was standing at a tipping point in culture. He hoped to tip it toward the Church!
Each lecture is short and digestible. For those (unlike me) with a working knowledge of 19th century philosophy, its references will be accessible; useful footnotes help with the more obscure references. (I, however, had to read a bit about August Comte and positivism before I felt I truly understood the opponent in Florensky's duel.) The final lectures spend some time talking about the importance of Orthodox iconography in the continued expression of the medieval worldview.
In perhaps one or two paragraphs in each lecture, the notes become shorthand: usually a succession of words likely meant to indicate topics he would then speak about extemporaneously. Thus, small parts of his lectures can become a bit vague, as clearly the notes indicated something more clearly unpacked in his in-person lectures.
As a book, this collection of lectures is a good introduction into Florensky's thoughts on culture. There are a number of interesting parallels between our own--in a way, it seems like the positivistic culture he hoped was crumbling never actually did, and he's speaking to us (minus the 1920's fascination with seances!) one hundred years later.
Though I've read no other work by the priest, this book only made me more interested in reading more from him, as many of the topics he introduces are not thoroughly explored.
